


Call Your Girlfriend - you can hate me now

by emeraldofthenorth



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 11:29:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10489929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldofthenorth/pseuds/emeraldofthenorth
Summary: SKAM AU - Jarchie and Beronica using the situations of SKAM characters. Archie is in the role of Even, the one who is flirtatious but in a seemingly perfect straight relationship. Jughead is cast as our Isak, the one who can't take his eyes off of this boy, and carries on his thing with the lovely Betty (in the role of Emma) but realises he isn't really attracted to her the way he is to Archie. Archie's maddeningly in-the-way girlfriend is Veronica (= Sonja). However, the more time Archie and Jughead hang around with each other, the more time Betty and Veronica also have to get closer. The magic pairing can finally click into place.A neon and disco-themed pregame. Some heady music and lingering glances. Archie and Jughead are both making out with their girlfriends on the dance floor. Jughead watches Archie dancing slowly and seductively with Veronica and it fills him with white-hot angst.





	

Some heady music and lingering glances.   
**

Jughead was preparing for the theatre-group pregame that was going to be going on in his shared flat that night. As he helped his flatmate Kevin (= Eskild) set out neon paints and streamers, he tried to settle the mysterious bubbly feeling in his stomach. It was one of those butterfly feelings, but he couldn't pin it down as good or bad, just slightly churning and unsettling. Was he excited to dance with Betty? The first time he would be getting closer to her after the couple of times they just kissed? Hmm, he wasn't quite sure. He felt warm and safe around Betty, that was for sure, but this wasn't exactly a joyous leap of the stomach. It was more tense and nervous... 

By sometime around 8 in the evening, Kevin and Jughead were sitting back on the sofa, admiring their decorating efforts. The mood lighting was on and they cracked open their first beers of the night. 

'Cheers to us!' Kevin said, toasting his beer to Jughead's. 'Here's to being young and hot!'  
'Young and wild and free!' Jughead piped in, a sarcastic grin on his face, since his writerly ironic attitude had come on. 'Kicking and screaming.'  
'Wild and loose and slutty! But classy!' Kevin said happily.   
'Naughty and devious!' said Jughead, genuinely enjoying it now too. 'Devilish and undignified!'  
'We're young and hot! Who needs self-respect? Who needs dignity? I don't...'   
'Wait, Kev,' interrupted Jughead, 'What are you saying right now? You know what Veronica would say if she heard you?'  
'Oh right...' Kevin broke into hysterics. 'We're all about self-worth and integrity and that shit now... I forgot myself. Ronnie would tell me that young women are strong, independent, and intelligent and fierce. I suppose I should develop my principles, Juggie.'  
Jughead laughed along with Kevin but then his face turned somewhat serious.   
Jughead said solemnly to Kevin, 'I don't know if having principles is as good as it's made out to be. What good is it to be honest and loyal if other people don't treat you the same way? When have my good qualities ever actually gotten me anywhere?'  
Kevin patted Jughead's shoulder comfortingly, shaking his head. 'I don't know, Juggie, don't know. I think the only thing that matters is... as long as you're honest with yourself, and face up to the way you feel, you'll always stay true to yourself.'   
Jughead looked off into the corner at this, thinking. A few seconds later, Kevin jumped up to keep getting ready, and the introspective moment was gone. 

Later, Kevin insisted on putting neon paint on Jughead's cheeks, and Jughead was grateful for his friend as Kevin stood in front of him tickling his cheeks with paint. He was one of the few people Jughead felt comfortable around. He could let his guard down with Kevin. 

'Ah, great, all done,' Kevin stood back, looking at Jughead's face. 'The pink goes well with your black t-shirt. You look hot tonight, Juggie! Be proud.' 

Well, as soon as he knew it, Jughead was back in the zone sitting on the sofa, with the coloured lights and music in full steam.   
He liked to sit and observe - 'everything ready for the wave of horny teenagers trying to be subtle about grinding on each other,' Jughead thought, a wry smile forming as he amused himself.

It was a neon and disco-themed pregame. 

Jughead became absorbed in the moody dance music, and was lost in his own thoughts as the guests filtered in. The flat was eventually quite stuffed with people from their high school. Jughead sat on the sofa next to Betty, chatting. Betty seemed to be flirting with him, but he couldn't really distinguish how she was now from how she was in conversations before they had kissed and held hands. She didn't necessarily seem any different towards him - she had always been really friendly and sincere, and maybe tonight she was just particularly bubbly because of the party. 

Jughead felt himself give a gasping intake of breath when Archie and Veronica walked through the door into the party. The couple saw Jughead and Betty sitting cozily on the sofa, but they got talking to people by the doorway first. As Jughead sat there with Betty, watching this perfect couple talking animatedly with acquaintances, he felt the knot in the pit of his stomach grow. He was feeling tension because of them. What was it about him and Betty that didn't work well together? Did he just have to give it more time? More kissing, for more feelings to grow? He felt the urge to try this. Jughead wanted to feel something, some physical sensation to distract him from the tension in his gut and his weird obsessive staring at Archie and Veronica.   
Jughead took a swig of his beer and leaned towards Betty, adjusting his arm that was casually slung around her, tightening the caress of his fingers around her waist. She almost jumped forward to coincide with his lean-in, diving into the kiss too in an almost antsy way. Jughead thought about her body language as they were kissing. What would Betty be antsy about? Was it possible she was feeling some of the same doubts about their relationship as he was? He ran his hands through her hair and deepened the kiss, trying to put his passion into it. But all he was feeling was more of a general warmth and lazy satisfaction, like a purring cat. Jughead felt a bit like he was a pet that Betty was stroking. Surely that can't be the ideal feeling from a kiss, right? He liked feeling warm and contented, but... 

Betty pulled apart from him when she received a tap on the shoulder from Archie, who said loudly, 'It looks like you two are having a bit too much fun over here!'   
Archie settled down next to Jughead while Veronica sat on the other side of the sofa, next to Betty. 

Some heady music and lingering glances.   
*Shift to Present*

As the four of them talk, Jughead just chips in whatever he needs to during the conversation. But mostly he is thinking, or rather trying to calm the swirling vortex of unintelligible thoughts and feelings swimming around his head. He zones out of the chat and focuses on his senses - he breathes in and out, and happens to smell the musky-fresh cologne of Archie sitting next to him. He shakes his head lightly to clear his sense of smell. He looks around the room, and finds himself feeling excited by the dimly lit couples dancing in time to the sultry beat. He wouldn't go so far as to say aroused, but it's more like he feels really... yeah. Excited. His heart's beating faster from the music. Not the fact that he just felt Archie's already close leg nudge his on the sofa. He can't breathe right. He tries to even his breathing out but then he glances at Archie, who makes eye contact for a few moments and then looks away. Oh god, he lets his mouth hang open because he cannot do any deep breaths or breathe normally at all. He coughs and stands up, looking at Betty. He asks her if she wants to dance, and takes her hand to help her out of the sofa pile.   
They walk over to the middle of the room and start to dance together. Jughead looks at Betty with his empty expression, although he's sure some of his vague anxiety and doubts show on his face, but she smiles at him with her brilliant smile. Her smile is so reassuring, as is her squeezing his hands, and Jughead thinks she just lights up the room. 

But soon enough, Jughead's gaze wanders to Archie, when he catches sight of the perfect couple dancing a little ways across the room from him and Betty. Archie and Veronica are dancing, her arms wrapped around his neck and his arms enveloping her waist. Jughead scans Veronica's swaying hips, and looks up to Archie's eye fixed on her body, her body and her face, seemingly the whole of her at once. Jughead feels his stomach drop a little. He looks at Archie's neon-covered cheekbones, and marvels at how well this mood-lit look sets off Archie's hair. It looks bronze and glowing right now, and his painted face makes him look wild and beautiful. Jughead scans down to Archie's white t-shirt, and notices how the snug fit of the t-shirt skims around the contours of Archie's torso. He looks both smooth and rippled. He looks a bit like a Greek god, if one had been transported to an 80's nightclub. Jughead gulps and wrenches his gaze away, looking down to his own feet. His stomach is churning. He feels chills run down his arms. He wraps them closer around Betty. She starts kissing him again. 

Archie and Jughead are both making out with their girlfriends on the dance floor. Jughead feels like the dance floor is revolving around him; the world is spinning, but Betty keeps him anchored. Jughead watches Archie dancing slowly and seductively with Veronica and it fills him with white-hot angst.   
The bass rumbles with a new song, and the bright strains hit him like darts as he keeps staring at Archie. The beat fills him with dread. And anger. All Jughead can think is that he wants Archie to glance at him. He wants Archie to at least think of him for one second while he's with Veronica, if Jughead for some reason is doomed to think of Archie all the time. And to want to be next to him, be... with him. 

The song lyrics coming through the speakers shoot into Jughead's brain like waves of cold water. His emotions shiver through his veins like ice. 

**Call your girlfriend  
It's time you had the talk  
Give your reasons  
Say it's not her fault  
But you just met somebody new

Don't you tell her how I give you something that you never even knew you missed  
Don't you even try and explain how it's so different when we kiss  
And you just tell her that the only way her heart will mend is when she learns to love again  
And it won't make sense right now but you're still her friend  
And then you let her down easy**

 

Suddenly Archie's gaze comes up, and he's still snogging Veronica, but he's full-on staring back at Jughead across the room. The room stops spinning for Jughead. In fact, the world freezes. Jughead's lips are pressed against Betty's face, but he can't pull his eyes away from Archie's. This moment feels like it lasts forever, a moment suspended in time. 

The party drawing to a close jolts Jughead out of this trance. People turn the lights on. The room gets hectic. Everyone is arranging transportation to the next party. He hears Betty say that they'll be going in Archie's car but he says he'll ride his bike. Jughead wants to be alone, to clear his head. He can't be stuck in the middle of that foursome right now. 

Five minutes later, Jughead is emptying beer cans into the kitchen sink. He sighs, but is calm and placid because he isn't thinking about anything, or feeling anything, he's just... letting himself breathe.   
But then Archie walks into the kitchen and comes up to help him, looking as blithe and normal as ever.   
'I thought you were driving?' Jughead asks him.   
'Nah,' Archie says. 'Veronica and Betty actually just wanted to walk together. They're so cute with each other.'  
'Yeah, okay...?' Jughead responds.   
'Listen, Juggie,' Archie says. 'I probably shouldn't tell you this, because Veronica isn't exactly sure about this herself, but... I just, well actually it seems right to tell you what I know. You're involved too, if Betty is.'   
'Okay shoot, what is it, Archie?' Jughead responds.  
'Uh, well this is how it is.' Archie says, hesitating. 'Veronica has feelings for Betty. She says that she wants to see if anything could happen between them, and if Betty might feel the same way about her.'

Jughead stares at Archie, his mouth hanging open. Archie steps forward, closer to Jughead, and puts his hand just below Jughead's shoulder, making a tentative gesture of comfort.   
Suddenly Jughead laughs out loud. Archie looks confused but Jughead tosses his shoulders in a wild shrug, and pronounces, 'This is great!'  
Archie looks with his frowning brow at Jughead and says, 'What? Jug, you okay dude? Why is this great?'   
Jughead looks slightly sheepish and gives Archie a slap on the shoulder, saying 'Oh hey sorry man, I didn't mean it was great for you. I don't want to rub it in your face or anything, if this ends up being a major bummer for you. I just meant... well for me, I've been feeling uncertain about Betty and this is just a relief, to be honest.'  
'Uncertain? What do you mean? I thought you both liked each other!' Archie replies.  
'Well yeah we did, I mean from my perspective, I think she's great, and she's been so supportive, like my rock. But... I don't think I feel that way about her. You know, the spark and chemistry and fiery passion kind of way.'  
'Oh, okay,' Archie mumbles. 'That's cool, that you figured out how you really feel. It's hard to process emotions and all that shit sometimes, you know? It's easier to just stuff feelings under a rock and ignore them.'   
Jughead looks up at Archie, from his perch in the corner of the kitchen counter, and his arms that are now crossed.   
'Well, sometimes the harder option is better. I guess life works that way.'   
Archie grins and adds, 'Yeah, the harder the better. Right, Jug? That's a nice philosophy you've got going on.'  
Jughead laughs and slaps Archie on the chest. 'Oh shut up, Arch,' he retorts. Jughead repents the sudden slap as his hand lies across Archie's chest, and he brushes his hand down a little, smoothing over Archie's t-shirt. He catches Archie's eye as he's making this instinctual gesture and feels something ignite inside of him. Burning heat, again, but this time a more desire-saturated heat. Jughead immediately drops his gaze, and his hand.   
He looks down, far down, looks at himself to stop himself from thinking about how close Archie is standing. He can't let himself get carried away with this proximity, and the sensations it creates in him. Jughead knows his subjective senses can't be trusted. How could Archie be feeling any of the same things as him? Jughead smells Archie's cologne again, he breathes in, and feels himself fill with longing. He stays still, keeps his glance frozen and downward. Nothing can upset this moment for him or hurt him if he just stays frozen and still, and keeps to himself.   
He senses Archie move closer, though. He hears him and sees his legs move right up to Jughead's legs. He sees his face swim into his vision, and he can't breathe. Archie brings his face close to Jughead's, and Jughead lifts his face finally. His lips are open in surprise, and he stares at Archie's bright eyes and his lips, coming so close. 

BANG! Jughead hears a door bang. The two boys jump and look towards the other room. They look at each other with mystified expressions.   
They step into the living room and see their interruptor standing in the middle of the room. It's Reggie. 

'Hey ya weirdos. What are you two idiots doing all silent in the kitchen? Anyway, I'm here to sleep over with Kevin. Night!'

Archie and Jughead stare at Reggie and then each other with mouths hanging open.

**Author's Note:**

> For this story, I'm making Betty and Veronica as equivalent to Emma and Sonja, because that works for the situation, building up the love-quadrangle tension, and throwing the two girls together.   
> However, I definitely see strong parallels between Beronica and the Eva and Vilde friends > lovers relationship.   
> Possibly another time, another AU fic. 
> 
>  
> 
> *Lyrics from 'Call Your Girlfriend' by Robyn used.


End file.
